The last assembly I attended was in 07. The DO spoke about pushing and shoving and forcing the children to become bapticed! I really was actually concerned not mad or angry but just concerned. I think that was when I realized you have to either move on or become a part of the congregation and do your best to salvage whatever good there is in the congregations. One reason I decided to get on the big bad internet, was the fact that every single witness defended that talk. UNBELIEVABLE! So I just kinda started moving on. Really for the first time ever.......I questioned peoples commitment to truth!
Was there ever a thread on the circuit assembly in 07 about the Do's talk?
by IreallydidwalkoutofaKH 15 Replies latest jw friends
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amama2six
They want to get these kids "committed" before they have the mental (and physical) capacity to fully understand what they're doing. It was EASY for me at nine years old (when I was baptized) to say I would not fornicate, marry outside the organization, masturbate, etc. I had yet to even have the DESIRE to do any of those things yet! Four years later I hit full-on puberty and WHOOSH...the real meaning of my "committment" started to become apparent. Unfortunately I couldn't take back my promise even though I'd made it before full understanding. Instead I was reproved at 16 for "sinning", then DFed at 18 for leaving to continue on in "sin".
Some things I wish I knew at nine years old...
What sexual desires WERE.
What suppressing them COMPLETELY before marriage would actually be LIKE.
That the chances of finding a sane, attractive "Brother" to marry were slim to NONE.
These little facts would have greatly affected my decision...meaning I would NEVER have gotten baptized! I didn't see anything about the talk but I just joined here about four days ago. It certainly doesn't surprise me, though. Get them young, before they know what they're doing, so by the time they DO know what they did it's too late to just walk away without severe penalty (loss of all family and friends associated with the congregation...a frighteningly new and uncharted life begun ALONE). It's easier to keep those kids in than it is to bring in new adult recruits.
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IreallydidwalkoutofaKH
Thanks for the response! That was alot to have happen in such a short time and at such a young age. I have 3 younger sisters and know how mature they were....compared to me at the same time! That must have been alot to experience before 20? My post was based on the fact that I really think the GB and Society agree with you! Easier to get kids that adults. But it took till I was 34 until I would make such a claim.
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amama2six
Oh that's definitely what I'm saying. The GB may be dead wrong about a lot of things but one thing they know well is that getting these kids baptized young is a good way to keep them in long after they would have left if they were NOT baptized.
They really got me good. I was a very smart kid...straight A student with great memory...and answering their baptismal questions was easy. Apparently "knowing all the answers" is equivalent to "understanding what they mean", according to them. Hate to break it to them...but it's not. Of course I think they know that already. They actually make it easy for these kids to be "mature" for their age! Have them studying early on...then doing field service and theocratic ministry talks...taking notes at meetings weekly...study some more. You start that crap from the time these kids can read and you got them hook line and sinker a few years later. It's all they know and they're so brainwashed of COURSE they're going to know all the answers. Couple that with baptism made to look so FUN and EXCITING (in an organization where kids don't get much fun and excitement) and you have a nice recipe for a kid committing before they have the chance to get a "mind of their own".
*claps for GB*
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FlyingHighNow
Do they enjoy disfellowshipping children? That's just BS. Disfellowshipping children, even teenagers, you know? One of the straws of many on my list, that were laid upon the back of the camel aka my faith.
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amama2six
A little more on the "fun and exciting" part of baptism...
We had little to celebrate as kids. Birthday came and went with nothing to show for it. Progressing in the organization was the only recognition you were EVER going to get...so you strove for it.
I received gifts for my baptism...a pen from an older brother with my name engraved on it, a heart-shaped necklace from my best friend at the time, a locket from my parents, lots of cards and a letter filled with praise and encouragement...a child who has almost nothing else celebrated in their life will eat this up like a bucket of candy and that's exactly what I did. I was so badly in need of self-esteem by that point I would have done anything to get it. How many "worldly" (or should I say "normal") children remember the exact birthday presents they got when they were nine years old? Probably not many. Yet this was such a hallmark moment in my life that I remember them all.
I kept these things to myself for far too long. I did not want to be "apostate"...even long after leaving the organization. But if being "apostate" means finally expressing my TRUE FEELINGS about what happened during those years, feelings I had AT THOSE TIMES (not made up NOW) and for years to follow...then I guess it's about darn time I became one.
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lisavegas420
I received gifts for my baptism...
What the hell?...You got presents? ... Oh great, sumptin else I can add to my list of stuff I missed out on.
lisa
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Tired of the Hypocrisy
What the hell?...You got presents?
This was something new to me too. Last year when my wife's son got baptized he was hinting around that we should throw him a party and give him presents. I asked him why he thought he should have these things....
He said that he was doing the right thing and felt he deserved it.
I asked him to read about Jesus and His baptism. How Jesus went out into the desert for a month and fasted and was tempted by the Devil for his trouble....
He sighed and said he was going to his uncle's house to see what they were gonna do for his baptism....
No one did anything! LOL
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dinah
In my old congregation if you weren't baptised be the time you were 15 or 16, there was something wrong with you. That's why they stay on parents' asses to raise your kids in the troof. If your kid leaves, then you have failed miserably in keeping them under control.
Wish I had known about cognitive dissonance when I was 12. It was there, I just had no idea that it had a name.
Of course, I haven't been to a DC is 23 years but even then they stayed on the kids and teens for every little thing. Music, clothes, "worldly" friends . Pioneer because this world is passing away and you'll probably never even finish high school.
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yourmomma
i dont even know if its about getting the young ones in as much as it is getting control of them. if they mess up, they get DF, and no one can talk to them. Kids who dont get baptized are threats since people can talk to them so if they go apostate, they are a big time threat since they cant get DF.